MANILA, June 11 (Reuters) - Chinese steel futures steadied on Monday after recent sharp gains that pushed the metal to a six-month high last week, but a firm outlook for demand underpinned prices.

China’s daily crude steel output averaged 2.53 million tonnes on May 10-20, Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau said in a note. That compares with the April daily average of 2.56 million tonnes, which was the highest since at least May, 2014.

The most actively traded rebar for October delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed nearly flat at 3,803 yuan ($594) a tonne, after recovering from the day’s low of 3,755 yuan. The construction steel product touched 3,869 yuan on Thursday, its strongest since early December.

Underlining firm consumption in China, the world’s top steel consumer, rebar stocks among Chinese traders had fallen nearly 50 percent from mid-March to 5.04 million tonnes as of June 8, data tracked by SteelHome consultancy showed. SH-TOT-RBARINV

China’s robust steel consumption and production had pushed up the country’s imports of raw material iron ore by 13.5 percent from April to 94.14 million tonnes last month, government data showed on Friday.